Fitch Ratings-Moscow-22 February 2017 Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of five UAE banks with Stable Outlook and maintained Rating Watch Positive (RWP) on First Gulf Bank’s (FGB) IDRs. The agency also downgraded the Viability Rating of Union National Bank (UNB) to ‘bbb-‘ from ‘bbb’. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this commentary. KEY RATING DRIVERS IDRs, SUPPORT […]
Good news for Sprint subscribers in the U.S. as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge are now receiving the long-awaited Android 7.0 Nougat update. Sprint users who are participating in the beta program for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are getting a taste of Android Nougat. Even though the beta users are the only ones receiving the update for now, it may […]
Wednesday 12:45 GMT Overview US equity futures suggest Wall Street will dip from record levels that were reached amid a positive outlook for economic growth. Political concerns leave the euro carrying the wooden spoon in the forex markets, while the rush for supposed havens pushes short term German bond yields to their lowest ever. Hot topic The FTSE All-World equity index is at another record, up 0.1 […]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 22, 2017-(ME NewsWire) Concourse D marks its first anniversary on February 24 following a successful inaugural year that saw over 16.6 million passengers enjoy its customer-friendly design and top-flight retail and food and beverage offering. Concourse D, which represents the final major piece of infrastructure to be built at DXB as part of the $7.8 billion Strategic Plan 2020 programme, was a […]
Demand for American hardwoods expected to pick up in the first half of 2017 as key projects near completion 22 February 2017 The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading international trade association for the American hardwood industry, is gearing up to participate at the Dubai WoodShow 2017, which will take place from March 7 – 9 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center (DICEC). The […]
Last fall, we saw the biggest distibuted denial of service (DDoS) attack ever. This year we’ll see even bigger ones. According to Akamai‘s latest State of the Internet Security report, here’s what’s behind them. Behind today’s DDoS attacks you’ll find botnets and they’re using the same old techniques hackers have always used to bring down your servers. Akamai First, you should know that while the total DDoS […]
22 Feb 2017, Doha, Qatar The Commercial Bank (P.S.Q.C.) (“the Bank”), its subsidiaries and associates (“Group”) announced today its financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2016. The Group reported a net profit of QAR 501.4 million as compared to QAR 1,434 million for the same period in 2015, a decrease of 65%. The Bank reported a net profit of QAR 683 million (2015- QAR […]
By David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by telephone with China’s top diplomat on Tuesday and affirmed the importance of a constructive U.S.-China relationship, and the two agreed on the need to address the threat posed by North Korea, the State Department said. Tillerson and Yang Jiechi, China’s state councillor who outranks the foreign minister, also discussed economics and trade as […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for February 22, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Abu Dhabi Film screening Cinema […]
Google recently launched Android Wear 2.0, an operating system for its smart watches. The entire OS has been refined and revamped. To help with the launch of the new OS, Google and LG collaborated and came up with two Android Wear devices: The $250 LG Watch Style and $350 LG Watch Sport. The approach is similar to the Nexus program, where Google would work with a phone […]
Saudi Arabia has invited investors to submit requests to qualify for the first round of its $30-$50 billion National Renewable Energy Programme by March 20, it said on Monday. Saudi Arabia is targetting 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023 in line with Vision 2030, an economic reform plan launched last year to diversify the economy beyond oil. The renewable programme involves investment of between $30 billion […]
At the start of January, when the Mexican Central Bank spent $2 billion to defend its currency in a rare intervention in the spot market, and which lasted just a few hours before the selling resumed, Goldman analyst Albert Ramos had some advice for Banxico: don’t use reserves to defend the Peso as Mexico would have greater need for them elsewhere. : Instead, Goldman’s advice was to […]
The US Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday issued sweeping new rules for border security and deportations as part of President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration. In a pair of memorandums, homeland security secretary John Kelly detailed steps “designed to stem illegal immigration and facilitate the detection, apprehension, detention and removal of aliens who have no lawful basis to enter or remain in the United States”. Mr […]
My taxi driver in San Diego had a plan. He was moving to Laredo to get back into long-distance trucking. He’d work hard for 10 years, save a couple of hundred grand, and retire to Mexico. I did the math: that put him around 2028. He might just make it before all the trucking jobs go away. At Qualcomm last week, Cristiano Amon, president of […]
By Fergus Jensen | JAKARTA JAKARTA Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will visit Jakarta and Bali on the Indonesian leg of his Asian tour next month, bringing 1,500 people in his entourage including 10 ministers, Indonesian officials said. “This is a very historic visit for us,” Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the king would be in Indonesia from March 1 to 9. He […]
GENEVA Nearly 1.4 million children are at “imminent risk” of death in famines in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday. People are already starving to death in all four countries, and the World Food Programme says more than 20 million lives are at risk in the next six months. “Time is running out for more than a million children,” […]
By Sumeet Chatterjee and Lawrence White | HONG KONG/LONDON HONG KONG/LONDON HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) reported a 62 percent slump in annual pre-tax profit that fell way short of analysts’ estimates as the British bank took hefty writedowns from restructuring and pointed to brakes on revenue growth. HSBC shares slid more than 6 percent after the company reported revenues fell by a fifth from 2015, underscoring the challenge […]
21 February 2017 Dubai – Auerbach Grayson & Company, LLC, a New York-based brokerage firm specializing in global trade execution and exclusive in-depth research on developed, frontier and emerging markets, announced today that it has partnered with Dubai-based Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets investment bank, to provide U.S. investors with greater access to the Middle East and South Africa. Through its exclusive partnership with Arqaam Capital, […]
One-off costs and multibillion-dollar writedowns have dragged down HSBC’s full-year profit 62 per cent year-on-year to $7.1bn, as the London-headquartered lender extended its share buyback programme by an additional $1bn. The British bank blamed slowing economic growth in its main markets of Hong Kong and the UK for the profit slide, as well as a $3.2bn impairment of goodwill to its private banking unit in Europe, and […]
Abu Dhabi, February 20, 2017 His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, issued a law to establish the Khalifa University of Science and Technology. The decree renames the university as “Khalifa University of Science and Technology”. The new entity will have an independent legal personality, financial and administrative independence, and full legal competence to […]
A number of seminal papers appeared towards the end of the 20th century calling for more attention to be paid to the human in the security loop. For example, Anne Adams and Angela Sasse’s “Users are not the Enemy” and Mark Ackerman and Lorrie Cranor’s “Privacy critics: UI components to safeguard users’ privacy.” The research field of Usable Security was thereby launched, and quickly garnered interest amongst […]
The Panama Papers scandal is the mother of all corruption cases which continues to haunt Joseph Muscat’s Government till this day, Beppe Fenech Adami told the PANA committee today. The PANA committee is in Malta to investigate the Panama Papers scandal, which brought to light the fact that Minister Konrad Mizzi and OPM chief of staff opened companies in Panama. The full declaration of […]
By Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis Restaurant Brands International Inc, owner of the Burger King and Tim Hortons fast-food chains, is nearing a deal to acquire Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The deal, which will likely value Popeyes at more than $1.7 billion, is a bet by Oakville, Ontario-based Restaurant Brands that it can use its international reach to introduce […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for February 21, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Nationwide New movie The Remains […]
